Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

serious!

In this unit you will learn how to:

• talk about what you and others have to do

• say that you’re not sure about something

• talk about possibilities and probabilities

• use the TO-FORM after different types of word

Dialogue 1

Tim and Paul are getting ready to go to Henry’s birthday party.

TIM:

Can we stop at the shop on the way, Tim?

PAUL:

Do we have to? We’ve got to get there by eight, and it’s a quarter to already.

TIM:

I have to get him a present – a bottle of wine or something.

PAUL:

I’ve already bought him a present.

TIM:

Well you must be more organised than me, then, mustn’t you?

Dialogue 2

Tim and Paul are at a party, trying to identify people.

TIM:

Is that Fiona over there?

PAUL:

It can’t be – she had to go to London this weekend.

TIM:

Well who is it, then?

PAUL:

It might be Suzie – she looks a bit like Fiona at a distance.

TIM:

No – I’ve just seen Suzie in the bar.

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PAUL:

Well it must be someone else, then, mustn’t it?

TIM:

Shall we go and introduce ourselves?

PAUL:

Can’t do any harm, can it?

Idioms

• a bit likemeans ‘quite similar’

• at a distancemeans ‘not near’

• ( It) can’t do any harmmeans ‘Nothing bad will happen if we do it’

Dialogue 3

Everyone’s in the pub, but Mike’s leaving early.

MIKE:

OK, everyone – I’m off!

PAUL:

Off? You can’t be serious – it’s not even eight o’clock!

MIKE:

I told you earlier – I’m expecting a phone call from my sister in Australia, and she may call tonight.

PAUL:

[ looks at his watch and does some mental arithmetic ]

But it must be the middle of the night down there!

MIKE:

No, it’s early morning. She might phone before she goes to work. See you all tomorrow.

PAUL:

See you, Mike.

Idioms

• I’m offmeans ‘I’m going now’

Language point 71 – obligation

There are three ways of talking about obligation (when someone must do something) in colloquial English: have to

have got to

must

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Here are some examples using all of these:

have to

I

’ve got to

do the shopping

must

has to

Dave

’s got to

work all day tomorrow

must

have to

we

’ve got to

go home now

must

Mustis not so common in colloquial English – have toand have got toare more usual.

Notice that, if we use have to, we never use the SHORT FORM: We have to go now

not ‘We’ve to go now’

Pete has to go now

not ‘Pete’s to go now’

but if we use have got towe don’t normally use the LONG FORM in statements:

We’ve got to go now

not ‘We have got to go now’

Pete’s got to go now

not ‘Pete has got to go now’

Pronunciation

have tois always pronounced /`hftə/

( or /hftυ/ before vowels)

has tois always pronounced /`hstə/

( or /hstυ/ before vowels)

The past tense of both have to and have got tois had to/`httə/ or

/`httυ/:

PRESENT

I have to phone my brother later

PRESENT

I’ve got to phone my brother later

PAST

I had to phone my brother yesterday

not ‘I had got to phone my brother yesterday’

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And here’s how we make questions:

Statement

Question

PRESENT

You have to phone.

→ Do you have to phone?

He has to phone.

→ Does he have to phone?

You’ve got to phone.→

Have you got to phone?

He’s got to phone.

→ Has he got to phone?

PAST

You had to phone.

→ Did you have to phone?

He had to phone.

→ Did he have to phone?

But notice that at the end of Dialogue 1 Tim does use must: You must be more organised than me

not

‘You have to be more organised than me’

Here, mustis correct, and have to/ have got tois wrong , because Tim is not talking about obligation – he’s using mustto show that he assumes something is true, or that he is fairly certain that something is true. We will learn more about this in Language point 72.

Exercise 1

Match the two halves of each sentence – the first one has been done for you.

1

The car’s broken down so I’ve

a

have to speak louder.

2

There’s a power cut so we

b

has to wait.

3

The train’s late so everybody

c

got to phone the garage.

4

Dave’s run out of money so he d

have to do it again.

5

We’re late so we

e

got to walk to work.

6

I can’t hear you so you

f

have to use candles.

7

The buses are on strike so I’ve

g

have to hurry up.

8

Their homework is wrong so

h

has to go to the bank.

they

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Exercise 2

Change the statements into questions, and vice versa. The first one has been done for you.

1 Dave’s got to go now.

Has Dave got to go now?

2 We had to show our passports.

____________________ ?

3 I’ve got to sign the form.

____________________ ?

4 Do the children have to pay?

____________________ .

5 Did they have to pay by cheque?

____________________

6 Greg had to do the work.

___________________ ?

7 Have Keith and Carl got to play a song?

___________________ .

8 I have to have my picture taken.

___________________ ?

9 We’ve got to leave early.

___________________ ?

10 Did Gerry have to work late?

___________________ .

Language point 72 – possibility and

certainty

We use the AUXILIARIES can, mightand mustto say how ‘certain’

(or not) we are of something. In Dialogue 1 Phil says: it can’t be

= it isn’t possible

it might be

= it is possible

it must be

= it is fairly certain

And in Dialogue 2 Paul and Mike use these auxiliaries in longer sentences: